Surprise Attack
by Beregond5
Summary: G1. It's just another typical day for Red Alert, right?


Red Alert looked behind him and then turned back to watching the monitors on Teletraan I in order to keep a lookout on the outside world. Things had been particularly quiet so far, but Red Alert knew that that could change from one moment to the next. It was always the Decepticons' way to attack when the Autobots least expected it, and today probably wouldn't be an exception either.

Suddenly, he saw something close to a rock in monitor 7 and quickly pressed the button to zoom in. It looked like Rumble was back to his spying duties again, and he was probably trying to locate the cameras. And then, of course, he would report back to Megatron, who would then figure out the best route they could take to reach the Autobot base undetected and…

…Oh. It was Spike.

The security chief removed his finger from the alert button. He had enough of Ironhide's scolding and Jazz's teasing for one day because of his previous _four_ false alarms, thank you very much.

And yet… why was the human leaning so suspiciously close to the rock?

Great. Spike was probably trying to test his sneaking skills to keep Red Alert distracted… or to get the upper hand on him.

Or maybe he stole something from Wheeljack's lab to see how it worked.

Or he was smoking one of those strange substances young humans usually used whenever their parents weren't looking!

"Teletraan I, change monitor 7 to monitor 18 immediately!" There was no telling what the kid was up to! He could even be…

… kissing Carly?

Um… right. Feeling quite uncomfortable at his indiscretion, he ordered Teletraan I to switch back to monitor 7 and he kept his eyes stubbornly away from there – for the next couple of minutes anyway. There could still be Decepticons out there as well, for all Red Alert knew.

He looked behind him once more, and then made sure that all the defence systems were fully operational.

And yet… perhaps he should discuss the possibility of some new defence measures with Trailbreaker. The Decepticons could familiarise themselves with the old ones and so find a way to override them.

Not to mention that something had to be done about the volcano crater. Honestly, that Earthen robotic ninja's infiltration and the numerous times Laserbeak entered through there should be enough hint already.

Speaking of which, he _should_ check what was happening inside the Ark as well. He pressed a couple of buttons and waited for the visual of the interior of Headquarters.

"Surrender… or _pay _the consequences!"

_What?!_ Red Alert clearly heard that unknown voice coming from the Twins' room, and obviously Bluestreak heard it too. The gunner was running frantically at that direction and at the next moment pressing the call button.

The door opened, and Red Alert watched with bated breath to see what would happen.

"Am I late?" Bluestreak said. "If I am, I'm sorry, but I just got back from patrol and I had to _speed_ to get here as fast as possible, and that could have meant trouble, and you know how Prowl gets when I…"

"Just get in!" Sunstreaker's voice sounded from the room. "Overlord is about to activate another zone generator!"

Bluestreak gasped and hurried inside, whereas Red Alert huffed and sat down. For it was then that Red Alert understood what was going on.

The three 'bots were at it again with that TV show.

Red Alert snorted. Honestly, even the _fictional_ idea of an evil Earthen scientist who could unleash mind-controlling bacteria in half the world should be disconcerting rather than exciting.

Wait a minute…

Yes, he would have to ask Prime for a list of names of Earth's top scientists afterwards. One couldn't be too careful after all.

And with that mental note in his processor, Red Alert looked around him and then pressed a couple of buttons to get an outside view of the Ark again.

It was then that he heard some static noise, and Red Alert was sure that that _wasn't_ from any TV show.

Something was wrong. Red Alert could feel it. Perhaps there was some faulty wiring in Teletraan I's system?

That could prove quite bad. If there _was _some faulty wiring and was left unattended, it could cause some severe system errors on Teletraan I. And, of course, that could mean the Ark would become vulnerable to all Decepticon attack.

Unless… it was the Decepticons' doing all along for that exact purpose. They could have placed inside Teletraan I a virus that could wipe out the entire hardware system. They were capable of a thing like that.

Well, whatever or _whoever _was behind this wasn't important for the present. The real priority was to have the nature of that static noise examined as fast as possible. He activated his transmitter and got ready to talk to Wheeljack.

Oh no. He had almost forgotten.

Wheeljack wasn't in the Ark. He was in Japan to see Dr. Fujiyama about some kind of invention or other, and he would return in a week's time.

But Red Alert couldn't just leave Teletraan I making static noises until then!

There was nothing for it. Red Alert would have to try and fix the problem himself. He looked behind him again, and then quickly ducked under Teletraan I.

"Good grief," he muttered under his breath. There were so many wires tangled in there that he couldn't possibly tell which of them was connected to what!

Maybe he should call Ratchet instead. He was a medic, true, but he still knew a thing or two about fixing Teletraan I.

It was then that Red Alert heard the static noise again. Realising that there was no more time to be wasted, the security chief crawled closer to the wiring.

Something moved!

Now there was no room for doubt whatsoever. Something was attempting to destroy Teletraan I's systems! Maybe it was that electric little monster again, or another morphobot spore now growing out of proportions, or…

"Squeak!"

Red Alert screamed… and then blackness surrounded him.

----------------------

Inferno waited patiently for Ratchet to finish his assessment on the unconscious Red Alert, his right hand carefully clenched into a fist. Finally, the medic walked up to him, a small smile crossing his face-plate.

"He'll be fine," he declared. "If anything, that small dent on his head will teach him to try and get up while he's underneath Teletraan I."

"Good," Inferno said with relief. True, the nature of Red Alert's accident amused him, but Red Alert was still a friend and Inferno didn't want him hurt.

"Have you got any idea what he was doing down there anyway?" Ratchet asked curiously. "He didn't think Megatron was there or anything, I hope?"

"Close enough," Inferno said with a grin. And with that he walked out, still keeping his right hand in a fist. When he made sure no one was looking, he uncurled his fingers slowly to reveal the small grey mouse perched on his black palm.

"All right, lil' buddy… Let's get ya outside."

The mouse just cleaned its whiskers.

**The End**


End file.
